Frarin the teacher?

Breelands Weather

The dawn autumn air is cool but pleasant around you. The night sky is clear with only slight wisps of clouds overhead.

Common Room

This large and rectangular room serves the purpose of Common Room for the Prancing Pony. Large windows along the western end of the room peek out over the Great East Road which runs outside the Inn. There are long tables with bench seats for the patrons in the centre of the room. Nestled into the wall is a large fireplace with several bundles of wood piled next to it. Overhead, lamps hang down from roof beams, but their light is dim and half-veiled in smoke. The corners of the room are wrapped in shadow.

Type PHELP for help using the menu at the Pony.

Contents:

Nob

Balig

Dart Board

Obvious exits:

Out

[Frarin] The common room at the Prancing Pony is still covered in a smudgy darkness this time of the morning, with the dawn light only just beginning to filter in through its large western windows, facing away from the sun rising in the east. One or two lamps have been lit and the fireplace is already smoking cheerily, beating away the cold of the frosty morn. And the sounds of breakfast preparations in the kitchen are all that break the silence.

The creak of booted feet on the wood floor outside the common room herald the arrival of the inn\'s earliest breakfaster. The door whines as it is thrust open to admit Frarin the dwarf, humming quietly to himself as he walks with the aid of a single walking stick on his left side. A bag there is slung over one shoulder and from it pokes the head of a quill. He does not call for service as he enters, but makes rather for a chair near to the fireplace.

[Nob(#16122)] A small boy is crouched by the fireplace watching it intently. After a minute, he pushes another large log into the flames, then scrambles to his feet, brushing barkdust from his shirt. He stops, mid-step, watching the dwarf enter with an expression of vivid interest on his freckled face. \"Hey, you\'re not limpin\' so much no more!\" Lek exclaims after a moment of fierce inspection.

[Frarin] Indeed, Frarin does not limp so badly as he has for the past month. Certainly he walks with a slight hobble, but he crosses the common room with adequate speed and only an occasional grimace of pain. His step slows as Lek stands and addresses him, but then the dwarf\'s brows rise in mild amusement and he even gives the boy a half-smile.

\"Well spotted, young master,\" he rumbles, clearing his throat of morning thickness. He pulls back a chair, seemingly oblivious to the lad\'s fierce stare, and seats himself directly beside the fire. Setting his bag on the table beside him, the dwarf chooses simply to warm himself for the time being. \"And perhaps one day I will not limp at all,\" he continues with the same bemused tone, rubbing his hands by the flames. \"But that will be very lucky indeed.\"

[Nob(#16122)] \"Whatcher got in that bag?\" Lek asks, standing on tip-toe and leaning forward - but not actually moving from his spot. His bright brown eyes move from the sack to the dwarf\'s leg, then up to his face. \"I heard th\'healer lady say you was lucky to even be walking,\" he says.

There is a rattle of crockery from the direction of the kitchen, and the boy starts a bit, his eyes darting away. Then, recalled to duty, he rattles off very fast, \"D\'youwantanythingtodrink?\" A pause. \"Or eat?\" he adds, doubtfully.

[Frarin] \"Gold, silver, rubies, emeralds,\" says Frarin boredly, still warming his hands. \"Everything you might expect a dwarf to carry around at the dawning of the day.\" Then, cocking an eyebrow at the boy, he lifts the flap of the bag and brings forth a pair of small, very worn leather books, a quill and a beaten metal inkwell. \"Nay, tis only my business affairs,\" he corrects, leaving off teasing the lad.

\"As for walking, well I am doing that just fine, as you can see. And soon enough it will be without any support at all, you mark my words. But aye, make yourself useful and fetch me something warm to drink, there\'s a good lad.\"

[Nob(#16122)] Lek\'s eyes grow wider and wider with each word. \"Gol...? Oh.\" The boy turns a little red at his own gullibility. \"Well, you\'ve got them things, jools and such!\" he says defensively. But emotions are quicksilver things, slipping through the fingers like fish. \"Whatcher gonna do with \'em?\" he asks. \"Write something?\" And he sounds very impressed lingering a moment longer in hopes of seeing some wondrous feat before darting off to the kitchen. In less time than might seem possible, he is back walking with exaggerated care so as to not spill the enormous mug of hot cider he has balanced on a platter.

[Frarin] Raising his brows again at Lek, Frarin offers another half-smile and nods conceedingly. \"Aye we do, lad, you are right then.\" And as if to prove the point, he reaches into the worn bag again and brings forth a very small quill knife, its handle made of a dark wood but also very clearly inlaid with silver. By the time the boy has returned with the steaming mug of cider, Frarin has already taken the knife to the tip of his quill and several shavings litter the table before him.

\"I wouldn\'t bring out a quill and ink if I was not going to write something, would I?\" the dwarf belatedly replies to Lek\'s eager question. Carefully relieving the lad of his burden, Frarin sets the enormous mug down before him. \"Many thanks, lad. Now tell me, do you know how to write, mm?\"

[Nob(#16122)] The boy\'s fascinated eyes are caught to the silver-handled knife. He carelessly flings the platter away - it skitters over the table-top next to them and barely escapes falling to the floor - and straddles a chair, hooking his bare feet up over the rungs. \"Lemme do that?\" he asks eagerly, then his face falls and he shakes his head. \"But I can write my name! Well... at least the letter that makes it start,\" he adds hurriedly. That counts, right?

[Frarin] \"Oh aye?\" Frarin asks, bemused. \"Let\'s see it then. You may be running an inn of your own some day, lad, you\'ll want to know how to write your name at least, I\'ll wager.\" Taking one of the books, a little red thing with no lettering on its cover and a series of water marks, the dwarf opens it and begins flipping through. Most of the front pages are filled with lines of figures and calculations, done up in a blocky, steady hand. But towards the back of the book the pages are blank.

Frarin stops at one of the blank pages and lays the book out before Lek. Unscrewing the top of his ink well, he dips the nib of the quill in, allows the extra ink to drip away, and offers it to the lad. \"Go on then, lad. Let\'s have a look.\"

[Nob(#16122)] Lek takes the pen gingerly, as if it might bite him, and looks uncertainly at the paper. The boy\'s feet push at the chair rungs, and his tongue sticks out from between his teeth, as a frown of concentration grows on his face. Carefully, he puts the end of the quill to the paper and draws a rather straggly line down, then across, looking up finally - expression half triumph, half nervousness.

[Frarin] Frarin cocks an eyebrow as he leans over to observe Lek\'s progress and he nods like an approving teacher as the lad looks up. \"Not too bad,\" he says, pulling the book towards him for a closer inspection. \"Not too bad at all. But I\'ll wager there\'s more than one person in the world whose name begins with L. How do you expect anyone to know that particular L is yours, mm?\" He pauses, taking a tentatively sip of the steaming mug of cider.

Then he pushes the book back towards Lek. \"Do you know how to spell the rest of your name, lad? It\'s Lek, is it not? That\'s simple enough to write out.\"

[Nob(#16122)] \"Well, it\'s me as wrote it!\" Lek says, as though this is obvious. Who else\'s name could it be? His face is slightly pink with pleasure at the praise. But then he looks down at the table, embarrassed. \"I ... don\'t know none of the other letters,\" he confesses in a small voice. \"Mister Barley, he told me the L is all.\"

[Frarin] \"Tis you who wrote it sure enough,\" Frarin replies with a serious nod. \"But everyone writes the same letters, lad. Though certainly yours are unique enough.\" The last is added with a half-smile as the dwarf looks again at the unsteady L scribbled on the page. \"But you are, what, nine, ten years of age? Lad your age ought to be able to spell out his own name.\"

Retrieving his quill, Frarin dips it into the inkwell again and sets it to the page, just above the boy\'s straggly single letter. In that same blocky handwriting as at the fore of the book, the dwarf scrawls out, all in capitals, L-E-C-K. \"There we are,\" he says, offering the pen back to Lek. \"Have a go at that then. You\'ve got the first letter, try the others.\"

[Nob(#16122)] \"I\'m almost 11!\" Lek asserts, slightly untruthfully. He yet has 8 months to go before his 11th birthday. But this small defiance floats away as he leans forward eagerly to watch the writing of his very own name. \"All them letters,\" he says marvelling. \"What\'re they called?\" He takes the pen with a small grubby paw, and - tongue between the teeth, frown returning - slowly copies out the other three letters. They /are/ recognizable, if not exactly straight or certain. Then he runs a finger under each one sounding them out by his knowledge of his name. \"Llll - ehhhh - kuh - kuh?\" A puzzled look up at the dwarf. \"I ain\'t got two \'Kuh\' noises.\"

[Frarin] Frarin watches with raised brows as the boy intently copies his name and he takes another sip from his steaming mug as Lek sounds the letters aloud. He tips his head forward as the lad gives him a puzzled expression and sits up to look back to the page. \"What\'s that?\" he queries, leaning forward. An understanding \"Ohh\" is given as the dwarf realises what troubles the lad.

\"Well, the C is silent,\" he clarifies, then shakes his head, recognising how very useless the explanation must be. He points to each letter. \"That is an L, that is E, that is C, and that is K. You don\'t have to say the C. Together, the C and the K make the \'kuh\' noise.\"

[Nob(#16122)] \"Oh,\" the boy replies, looking down at the letters. \"Well,\" he asks, reasonably, \"If I don\'t got to say it, how come I got to write it?\" Then a slightly downcast look comes over his face. \"Mine don\'t look so neat-like as yours,\" he says dolefully, then brightens up. \"But you can read it out, right? Even if it ain\'t so straight?\"

[Frarin] Frarin frowns at Lek\'s question, thinks for a moment, then shrugs and shakes his head. \"I don\'t know, that is how I was taught. But if you don\'t like it, then don\'t write the C.\" Another half-smile crops up beneath the dwarf\'s long beard as he looks again at the lad\'s unsteady writing. \"Aye, I can read it out. And I\'ve had a fine few years more than you to practice writing, lad, and more than my name. You practice that enough and you\'ll have it down fine.\"

He pulls the book towards him and takes up the quill knife again. Carefully holding the page with its fresh ink, he slices through the parchment and offers the page to Lek. \"There you go then. You just practice from that.\"

[Nob(#16122)] The boy\'s face lights up, and he takes the paper reverently, staring at it in silence for many more minutes than he is usually silent about anything, except on threat of a beating. \"Can I keep it?\" he asks.

There is a roar from the kitchen just then, \"LEK!\" The boy ignores it, eyes fixed on Frarin.

[Frarin] \"Aye, go on then,\" says Frarin, gruffly nodding as if to brush off the boy\'s reverance. He takes a sip of his cider, now cooled slightly, then nods in the direction of the kitchen. \"You best get along, someone\'s calling for you, lad.\" He retrieves his book and quill and begins to flip back towards the front of the book. Before he has begun, however, he looks up of a sudden, as if remembering something.

\"Say, lad,\" he says before Lek can depart, \"tell whoever it is who wants you that you\'re helping a customer. Then come on back out, I need to ask a few things, aye?\"

[Nob(#16122)] \"LEK!\" The bellow is louder still, and Lek looks up as if he hasn\'t heard it until this exact moment. Then, slowly, he sets the paper down, and stands up - it may take him a bit of time to get to the kitchen, as there is, apparently, something on the floor just here that needs his careful attention a spot on the wall there that must be rubbed at... the boy looks back up at the dwarf, and a grin flashes across his face. \"Yessir!\" he says and darts out of the room.

[Frarin] Shaking his head at the boy\'s delayed, then sudden, departure, Frarin looks back to his book. He pulls the second book towards him as well, this one a faded green but equally as worn as its twin. He flips this book open to a certain page and props it up against his bag. Eyes flicking between green book and red, the dwarf frowns as he begins to jot down notes, pausing now and again as he makes calculations.

[Nob(#16122)] The lad is back in very few moments, his hair as tousled as if he had run all the way around the Pony. He plops down into his chair, takes a deep breath, (and a bite of the bread and cheese he is now clutching). \"What\'re you doing?\" he asks, and with his free hand, pulls his own bit of paper close to him so that he can admire the letters on it better.

[Frarin] Frarin has time for only a few notes before Lek is returning in a flurry, happily taking up his chair again. The dwarf lifts a brow at the lad as his interest is again instantly perked up. \"Business things,\" Frarin answers, setting aside his pen. \"Ought to keep track of where my money goes, aye? Don\'t you worry about it though.\"

Pushing the two books away, Frarin pulls his mug of cider closer to him. \"Now, you\'re a keen lad, I\'ll wager. You live here at the inn, correct? See most of what goes on and who comes in?\"

[Nob(#16122)] A flicker of envy at anyone who /has/ enough money to need keeping track of. Then Lek nods, his young freckled face becoming solemn. \"Yes,\" he breathes, glancing around at the empty room in search of spies, no doubt. \"I even seen ol\' Harbottle kiss th\'maid when he thought wasn\'t nobody around.\" The boy\'s eyes are wide, fixed on the dwarf\'s face.

[Frarin] Lek\'s vital piece of information renews the former amusement in Frarin\'s face, though the dwarf nods solemnly as the boy\'s eyes go wide. \"Aye, well you keep that to yourself, wouldn\'t want you getting into trouble with this Harbottle.\" Leaning forward, Frarin too glances around the deserted common room before speaking.

\"But I don\'t need to know who\'s been kissing who. I\'m looking for someone carrying around a bit of extra money. Someone perhaps who hasn\'t so much money previously, but might suddenly have been better off starting a few weeks ago? Have you noticed anyone like that around?\" The dwarf fixes Lek with a serious stare. With the lad having given so much minute attention given to his own wealth, perhaps Frarin hopes the unusual increase in the riches of another might not have escaped Lek\'s notice.

[Nob(#16122)] Lek\'s face turns in on itself, his eyes going vague as he thinks. \"Well,\" he says slowly, \"Toby\'s got money, an\' he never used to. But that were more than just a bit ago. Like, all this fall or somethin\'.\" He falls silent, clearly running over people in his mind.

Cordelia enters the Common Room through the open doorway.

Cordelia has arrived.

[Frarin] Frarin listens intently as the lad thinks aloud, still leaning forward as he regards Lek. The dwarf frowns at the mention of Toby, but he leans back and looks towards the ceiling of the common room, apparently considering the revelation. He shakes his head though. \"Nay, this would have been a more recent acquisition. No more than a month ago.\"

The boy\'s added comment brings a questioning expression to Frarin\'s face, as if the dwarf does not quite understand. \"A funny penny? How do you mean?\"

[Cordelia(#1394)] Maybe unnoticed--perhaps not--Cordelia hesitates a fraction of a second as she comes out of the kitchen, armload of clean mugs in her arms. Her pause coincides with the words \"funny penny,\" but she strides on into the common room and starts setting down the mugs by the bar. She\'s wearing an apron over her dress, water splashed, and her hair is tied up in a kerchief.

[Nob(#16122)] \"Well, I dunno,\" Lek says, still hesitating. \"Funny like. Differnt.\" He gives Frarin a careful, wary look, then glances over at Cordelia and lowers his voice. \"I din\'t get t\'look very long,\" he tells the dwarf, \"Mister Barley, he come in, an\' he don\' like me touchin\' th\'money none. I don\'t take none!\" he hurries to assure his listener. \"I just... I like t\'look at it, y\'see?\" There is worry on his thin freckled face. \"You.. you ain\'t goin\' to tell or nothing?\"

[Frarin] This most recent piece of information brings a noticeable change to Frarin\'s expression, for his brows comes together and his frown deepens. The mild amusement is gone. \"A foreign coin then? Not one from Bree?\" he presses on. He seems interested, though not overly eager. Bree is after all a trading town, unusual coins cannot be all that uncommon. At that moment, however, Cordelia enters upon the common room and brings Frarin\'s attention round, momentarily forgetting the lad.

He does not seem much concerned by the woman\'s prescence, though he does lower his voice slightly as he turns back to Lek. \"Nay, of course I won\'t tell anyone, lad. Though you keep this chat of ours to yourself as well, aye? Now, this foreign coin, what did it look like?\" He reaches into his tunic and pulls forth a small purse that jingles. He opens it and draws from it a small copper coin, worn but still fairly clearly stamped with what looks to be a lone mountain. \"Anything like that?\"

[Catrina(#21413)] A young girl about seven years of age wanders into the common room. She\'s clean and neatly dressed, though her hair was clearly \"styled\" on her own. She\'s not much taller than a hobbit, and as she enters the nearly deserted common room she looks around with wide, almost-nervous eyes. Just after entering the doorway she pauses, glances back at the door through which she\'s just come, and adopts an expression of uncertainty every few seconds her gaze alternates between the common room and the exit.

[Cordelia(#1394)] The young woman keeps a carefully neutral face, eyes lowered as she goes about her business, putting away the mugs carefully. She does look up once or twice, and in one of those instances she spots Frarin and smiles briefly. A glance is given to Lek, but her focus doesn\'t linger there long. She busies herself with starting to collect dirty plates and dishes on a tray she holds, moving slowly about the room. Coincidentally or not, she is within speaking distance of Lek and Frarin.

[Nob(#16122)] Lek\'s face is relieved. He leans forward, no more reluctance, and peers closely at the copper penny. Then he looks up to meet Frarin\'s eyes and nods. \"I remember that picture, there.\"

[Catrina(#21413)] After standing in the doorway for several seconds, the little girl\'s courage fades. She turns around to hightail it for the exit, but unfortunately for her, her feet don\'t move the way she wants them to. Elaine\'s feet get tangled up in a chair near the door and within seconds she is sprawled out across the floor, face down a soft grunt follows a few moments later.

[Frarin] Frarin grunts in thought as Lek acknowledges recognising the picture on the coin, but again the dwarf does not look overly excited. Fingers rap absently on the tabletop as he thinks. \"Well, that\'s something,\" he muses, failing to look behind him as Cordelia moves nearer the two. \"That\'s a coin from the Lonely Mountain, lad, my home. But we dwarves have been here any number of months, I\'m not surprised you\'ve seen one of our coins.\" Sighing, Frarin begins to gather up his things, even as a young girl enters the common room, and promptly makes to depart again, though not so gracefully.

\"Be a good lad and go give that lass a hand,\" Frarin nods towards Elaine as the girl sprawls unexpectedly across the floor. \"I\'m off in any case. I\'ll be back a bit later for some breakfast.\" With his things gathered into his bag, the dwarf rises and takes up his walking stick. But he does pause to glace to Cordelia, whom he offers a polite smile. \"I see you\'ve found work after all, then?\"

[Nob(#16122)] Lek looks around, surprised, his eyes widening as he sees Elaine sprawled across the floor. He hops up, not forgetting the paper Frarin has given him, and goes over to her, saying, not unkindly, \"D\'ja trip?\" and sticking out a hand for her to grab.

[Cordelia(#1394)] The tray of mugs and dishes is set down with an ungraceful clatter as the child falls, Cordelia hastily making her way in that direction. She pauses as Lek reaches the child first, and she turns at Frarin\'s question. \"Washing dishes and peeling potatoes, aye,\" she answers. \"Better than being a barmaid. Me mum would\'ve been angry if she knew I had been thinking about taking that line of work.\"

[Catrina(#21413)] The girl continues to lie on the ground, unmoving, until Lek reaches her side. Rolling over, Elaine\'s face is beet red and her little hand reaches up to grab Lek\'s. \"Thank you, Lek,\" she says with obvious embarrassment. Standing to her feet, she mutters, \"I\'m such a gratheleth thilly ninny.\" And it\'s clearly embarrassment making her respond like that. She\'s holding a small basket with a cloth covering it, and somehow it didn\'t get smooshed - too badly. \"I brung you thith,\" she admits, her face still red, as she thrusts the basket at the boy. Cordelia is not unnoticed by the girl. She turns her head up slightly and offers a shy look. \"I\'m thorry I din\'t bring you none.\"

[Nob(#16122)] Lek pulls the smaller girl up with ease he is a thin child, but wiry. But to take the basket, he has to let go of her hand - as his other is gripping a sheet of paper. He looks up at Cordelia too, then balances the basket on his hip and peers inside. \"For me?\"

[Cordelia(#1394)] \"That\'s all right, honey,\" Cordelia answers. \"I\'m sure your brother appreciates what you\'ve brought him,\" she continues, nodding toward Lek and apparently just assuming the two are family. She reaches for her tray again.

[Catrina(#21413)] With a quick shake of her head, Elaine explains. \"Lek ain\'t my brother, he\'th my friend!\" The comment causes all the blood to rush back into her face again. \"I mean, we jutht met an\' he helped me find my thithter.\" The basket contains a couple large, slightly squished, apple muffins. \"An\' I wanted to thay thank you.\" She hasn\'t looked back at the boy since Cordelia started talking to her.

[Frarin] \"Aye, well done indeed,\" says Frarin with a nod to Cordelia. He hobbles for the door, pausing as he nears Lek, who he tips his head towards and fixes with a pointed finger. \"You remember to practice that name of yours, young master,\" he says. And lowering his voice, he adds again, \"And remember to keep our chat to yourself.\" He offers something of a shallow bow to both Lek and the newly-arrived Elaine, then departs the common room without another word.